How do you celebrate National Information Literacy Month?
By becoming more information literate, of course!
Week 4: Citation and Copyright
Now you’ve found and evaluated all the information you need for your paper—how do you give credit where credit is due?
NoodleTools
~ All the help you need to create a properly formatted Works Cited page, plus help in creating in-text citations.
~ Need help getting started with NoodleTools? Check out the guide on the library website.
Creative Commons
You may also want to check out Creative Commons, a new type of copyright licensing that makes it easier for writers, artists, and other creators to specify how and when it’s okay to use and remix their work
Week 3: How to Evaluate Your Sources
Use the acronym CARDS to help you evaluate a source
~ Credibility: Who is the author? What are his or her credentials? Is the author biased? ~ Accuracy: Can facts, statistics, and other information be verified through other sources? Based on your knowledge, does this information seem accurate? ~ Relevance: Does this source support your thesis or help to answer your question? Is this information you can read and understand? Is this material useful to you? ~ Date: When was this information created? When was it revised? Is the currency of the information important to your question? ~ Sources: Are the sources the author used reliable and credible?
(Based on the CARRDSS web evaluation tool created by Joyce Valenza of the Springfield Township High School)
Truncate the URL to find where you are
~ When you click on a link from search results sometimes you end up on a page deep within a website, and it’s not exactly clear where you are—or who is responsible for the information you’re viewing.
In order to get to the “top level” of a website—and get a better sense of how you got where you are—you can truncate (i.e. cut off) parts of the URL (web address).
For example, say you ended up on a page with this URL: http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_geosciences/explore/
If you cut off “themes_geosciences/explore/” from the URL, you get to the homepage for that site (Year of Science 2009), and can find out more about who is presenting this information and why.
Find out who else is linking to the website:
~ Want to know who else is using (and trusting) the source you found? You can find out who is linking to the site by doing a Google search for link:siteURL
For example, a search for link:http://www.yearofscience2009.org/ gives you a list of approximately 580 sites that have linked to the Year of Science site.
If I find out that other sites I already know and trust are linking to a site, I’m more likely to trust it myself
Week 2: Where to look
Sometimes the trick to finding the right information is looking in the right place. There's more (much more!) than Google when looking for information online.
Recommended Search Engines and Directories Clusty.com
In addition to the list of results, Clusty clusters your search results into subtopics, making it possible to narrow your results. You can also use the clusters to brainstorm new and better search terms.
USA.gov
Search specifically for official U.S. government information and services
OneLook Dictionary
Looks in multiple online dictionaries at once. Also has a reverse look up, for when you know what you want to say but can't think of the right word.
Databases!
Sometimes using a search engine or directory isn't the best choice; when you're doing research for class it's often best to turn to an online database.
Databases contain electronic versions of print sources (including magazine articles and book chapters) as well as online sources. Databases give organization and structure to information, making it easier to find quality sources.
Note: Some of these resources will require a password when being accessed from off campus; if you need login information, please let me know.
Week 1: How to Search
Use a variety of search tools
~ There’s more that just Google. Try different search engines for different results (Clusty.com is one of my favorites).
~ Look in databases—there are links to several subject-specific databases on the library website.
Use Advanced Search Screens
~Advanced Search screens can help you narrow your search—and give you better results.
Limit your search to what you're looking for
~ Looking for an exact phrase? Put quotation marks around the phrase.
~ In order to limit your search to .edu or .gov sites add "site:edu" or "site:gov" to your search terms. You can also use this trick to search the contents of a particular site. (Note: you should not put the "site:edu" or site:gov" in quotation marks when you're searching. Do not put a space between the colon and .edu, .gov, or the address of the site you're searching.)
Vary your keywords.Use the mnemonic FOREST to help you brainstorm a variety of keywords
FO: Forms
Think of different forms of the word you are searching for. For example, if you do a search on the word “clothes” you may miss pages that have the word “clothing”. Or if you search “fashion” you may miss “fashionable. Many search engines will let you use a wildcard (usually *) to search many forms at once; for example, a search on librar* will return results for library, libraries, and librarian RE: Related Terms
What terms are related to your topic? For example, if you’re doing a search for “sports” related terms might include games, scores, team, league, tournament, or athletics. ST: Synonymous Terms
What are some synonyms for your topic? For example, if you’re doing a search on “music” you might consider also trying the terms song, concert, singing, or tune. You might want to try looking in a thesaurus to brainstorm some synonyms for your topic.
October is National Information Literacy Month!
How do you celebrate National Information Literacy Month?
By becoming more information literate, of course!
Week 4: Citation and Copyright
Now you’ve found and evaluated all the information you need for your paper—how do you give credit where credit is due?
NoodleTools
~ All the help you need to create a properly formatted Works Cited page, plus help in creating in-text citations.
~ Need help getting started with NoodleTools? Check out the guide on the library website.
Vaughn Memorial Library Plagiarism Tutorial
~ Not sure when you need to cite something, but want to be sure to avoid plagiarism?
This tutorial can help.
Copyright friendly images
The place to find copyright friendly images to add to your presentation.
10 Myths about copyright explained
Curious about copyright? This is a good place to start.
Creative Commons
You may also want to check out Creative Commons, a new type of copyright licensing that makes it easier for writers, artists, and other creators to specify how and when it’s okay to use and remix their work
Week 3: How to Evaluate Your Sources
- Use the acronym CARDS to help you evaluate a source
~ Credibility: Who is the author? What are his or her credentials? Is the author biased?~ Accuracy: Can facts, statistics, and other information be verified through other sources? Based on your knowledge, does this information seem accurate?
~ Relevance: Does this source support your thesis or help to answer your question? Is this information you can read and understand? Is this material useful to you?
~ Date: When was this information created? When was it revised? Is the currency of the information important to your question?
~ Sources: Are the sources the author used reliable and credible?
(Based on the CARRDSS web evaluation tool created by Joyce Valenza of the Springfield Township High School)
- Truncate the URL to find where you are
~ When you click on a link from search results sometimes you end up on a page deep within a website, and it’s not exactly clear where you are—or who is responsible for the information you’re viewing.In order to get to the “top level” of a website—and get a better sense of how you got where you are—you can truncate (i.e. cut off) parts of the URL (web address).
For example, say you ended up on a page with this URL:
http://www.yearofscience2009.org/themes_geosciences/explore/
If you cut off “themes_geosciences/explore/” from the URL, you get to the homepage for that site (Year of Science 2009), and can find out more about who is presenting this information and why.
- Find out who else is linking to the website:
~ Want to know who else is using (and trusting) the source you found? You can find out who is linking to the site by doing a Google search for link:siteURLFor example, a search for link:http://www.yearofscience2009.org/ gives you a list of approximately 580 sites that have linked to the Year of Science site.
If I find out that other sites I already know and trust are linking to a site, I’m more likely to trust it myself
Week 2: Where to look
Sometimes the trick to finding the right information is looking in the right place. There's more (much more!) than Google when looking for information online.
Recommended Search Engines and Directories
Clusty.com
In addition to the list of results, Clusty clusters your search results into subtopics, making it possible to narrow your results. You can also use the clusters to brainstorm new and better search terms.
USA.gov
Search specifically for official U.S. government information and services
Librarians’ Internet Index
More sources gathered and reviewed by librarians.
Internet Public Library
Sources gathered and reviewed by librarians.
OneLook Dictionary
Looks in multiple online dictionaries at once. Also has a reverse look up, for when you know what you want to say but can't think of the right word.
Need more ideas on where to search? Check out this guide from NoodleTools:
Choose the Best Search Engine for your information need
Databases!
Sometimes using a search engine or directory isn't the best choice; when you're doing research for class it's often best to turn to an online database.
Databases contain electronic versions of print sources (including magazine articles and book chapters) as well as online sources. Databases give organization and structure to information, making it easier to find quality sources.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Databases
We have access to a variety of databases, including (but certainly not limited to!):
History Resource Center
Science Reference Center
Points of View Reference Center
Note: Some of these resources will require a password when being accessed from off campus; if you need login information, please let me know.
Week 1: How to Search
- Use a variety of search tools
~ There’s more that just Google. Try different search engines for different results (Clusty.com is one of my favorites).~ Look in databases—there are links to several subject-specific databases on the library website.
- Use Advanced Search Screens
~Advanced Search screens can help you narrow your search—and give you better results.- Limit your search to what you're looking for
~ Looking for an exact phrase? Put quotation marks around the phrase.~ In order to limit your search to .edu or .gov sites add "site:edu" or "site:gov" to your search terms. You can also use this trick to search the contents of a particular site. (Note: you should not put the "site:edu" or site:gov" in quotation marks when you're searching. Do not put a space between the colon and .edu, .gov, or the address of the site you're searching.)
- Vary your keywords. Use the mnemonic FOREST to help you brainstorm a variety of keywords
FO: FormsThink of different forms of the word you are searching for. For example, if you do a search on the word “clothes” you may miss pages that have the word “clothing”. Or if you search “fashion” you may miss “fashionable. Many search engines will let you use a wildcard (usually *) to search many forms at once; for example, a search on librar* will return results for library, libraries, and librarian
RE: Related Terms
What terms are related to your topic? For example, if you’re doing a search for “sports” related terms might include games, scores, team, league, tournament, or athletics.
ST: Synonymous Terms
What are some synonyms for your topic? For example, if you’re doing a search on “music” you might consider also trying the terms song, concert, singing, or tune. You might want to try looking in a thesaurus to brainstorm some synonyms for your topic.